By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office announced Tuesday that Thornton Police Officer Matthew Yao was legally justified for the shooting death of Ethan Freeman last October.

Freeman, a 37-year-old Thornton resident with a reported history of mental health issues, can be seen in Yao’s body camera video recording naked and covered in blood, charging at the officer and threatening to kill him.

“It was reasonable for Officer Yao to believe Mr. Freemen represented an imminent deadly attack,” said Senior Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley.

Hinckley went through a summary of the state’s investigation into the shooting at a press conference in Concord on Tuesday, held at the New Hampshire Fire Academy Administration Building in order to comply with COVID-19 restrictions. The evidence includes Yao’s body camera recording of his interactions with Freeman earlier on the day of the shooting.

Freeman was reportedly agitated on the morning of Oct. 19, 2020, his landlord told investigators. That morning Freeman told the landlord he did not know who he was, and he threatened to stab the landlord, Hinckley said.

Freeman then ran off into the woods and was next seen at Thornton Central School. There he went into the lobby of the school and told staff he was experiencing chest pains. Hinckley said it is not clear why Freeman went to the school.

Yao responded and can be seen and heard talking to Freeman and helping him calm down as an ambulance was on its way. 

“When was the last time you slept,” Yao is heard asking.

“It’s been a while,” Freeman said.

The school nurse told Yao she thought Freeman was on amphetamines, Hinckley said. After getting Freeman into the ambulance, Yao rode along. Freeman reportedly got agitated in the ambulance, forcing it to stop so that Yao could calm Freeman down again.

At the Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth, Freeman bolted from the ambulance and ran toward the door. He fell down and Yao chased him in an effort to calm him down. 

“You’re gonna be OK. Stay calm,” Yao is heard saying to Freeman.

That afternoon, Freeman was released and back at his home on Four Wheel Drive. Around 4 p.m., his landlord reports hearing commotion from Freeman’s apartment like things being smashed and broken, Hinckley said. Freeman started yelling that he had been cut and was bleeding, Hinckley said. The landlord called Freeman’s mother, and then he called 911. Yao was the first on the scene.

The moments that follow, captured on Yao’s body camera, show Freeman at his worst, Hinckley said. Yao sees Freeman in his apartment, naked and covered in blood with an open head wound.

Freeman is also brandishing a piece of broken furniture in one hand. He threatens Yao and charges at him, forcing the offer to retreat. At this point Yao draws his service pistol.

Throughout the encounter, Yao makes numerous attempts to engage Freeman and calm him down. Yao also calls in and reports he is being threatened. This is when Freeman starts charging at Yao.

Yao shouts several times for Freeman to stop, but he is quickly advancing on the retreating officer. Freeman is walking with an obvious limp as he moves on Yao, but Hinckley said it appears he will be at the officer in seconds and Yao is at this point afraid Freeman will seriously harm him or kill him. Freeman ignores the commands to stop and Yao fires two shots. 

Hinckley said Yao then provides emergency medical attention to Freeman until an ambulance arrives. Freeman died at the scene.

At the time he was advancing on the officer, Freeman was not armed, and Yao did not believe that he was armed, according to Hinckley.

The complete report and videos can be seen here. https://www.doj.nh.gov/multimedia/thornton-ois.htm

Yao, a three-year veteran on the Thornton police department at the time of the shooting, is still on the force, Hinckley said. While Yao had non-lethal weapons on him during the encounter, like a Taser and pepper spray, Hinckley said Yao feared he did not have time to holster the gun and draw a non-lethal weapon in time as Freeman started to advance on him.

“Our role is not to second guess what the officers did, but determine if the shooting followed the law,” Hinckley said.

Since Yao was placed in fear of deadly force from a nearly disturbed Freeman, his use of deadly force was justified, according to Hinckley.